Aliens From Beneath

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2013)

Pacific Rim is essentially a comedy, leisurely shot, and the _risibly small scale of the whole operation is striking (the entire scientific knowledge belongs to a couple of crazy scientists, and one of them utters as breaking news conclusions he should of arrived at from the beginning—the fact that the monsters are clones, as if the DNA analysis was the last thing one would do, and that, casually); the main impression being that of a good—natured humor. A very good comeback for Toro. It's lively, colorful and enthralling, brisk and charming—delightful, leisurely and over—the—top—by atmosphere and leisure, Toro gains a satisfying naturalness, in this surreal fairy tale. The trope of the alien _spoliators appears in no less than three important releases of this year—the Cruise vehicle 'Oblivion', the Superman reboot, and Toro's 'Pacific'. In all these, the aliens drain the Earth of its resources. In the last of the three movies, the Kaijus's breath is phosphorescent, as of neon.
This director, one of the names of his generation, behaves as if he knew how to shoot children's phantasms and visions, his trademark (at least some of his other movies are about kids' worlds), which is far from being the case.
And little Mori's terror actually borders on exploitation.
But there are many other things to enjoy, in this likable and satisfying outing—the very template it uses is a diversity of elements, there are many things in it.
The movies is occasionally funny, often merry, and _parodic (Pentecost's uplifting speech, wryly commented; the two crazy scientists, in a sort of steam—punk, as if in 2025 the Earth's whole knowledge about the Kaijus rested in the scatterbrains of two weird guys). But these are all elements, mere items—the style is very good, and it has ease.
Pacific Rim is very well paced—swift, fast, but leisurely, i.e., never hurried—and Toro's playfulness has charm, and doesn't tear the story; actually, the movie achieves atmosphere, and I liked the work scenes, the dirt in the rooms, etc..
The movie's quasi—villain, Hannibal, was a treat—Perlman enjoyably over—the—top. But, of course, everything is over—the—top, and Gottlieb and Newt are affectionately portrayed in this humorous template.
The only real limitation is the cast—not very good, though there's of course some intended goofiness in the performances—Idris Elba often seems to keep himself from bursting into laughter, during his assuredly macho sent—offs. But I didn't like very much Hunnam—and the fact that Kazinsky looked like his clone didn't help, either.
This director had taken a long break from directing; it's good to welcome him back. I have seen two of his other movies, I perceived them as not entirely satisfying, this is one is the best so far.